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Translations, the bootleg EP from Belgium’s mysterious Jealov, uses a nearly-unrecognizable palette of pieces from chart-toppers Sean Paul, Beyonce, Justin Timberlake, Rihanna, Jay Z, and Aaliyah to create a layered landscape of skewed, corrupted crunk. The life of pop songs is often tragic -- forgettable today, and forgotten tomorrow. Translations, however, charts the shadows cast by Top 40. “Sean’s Shelter” is a surreal, driving slow-dub version of Sean Paul’s “Temperature“ while “B&C Gir1” introduces Beyonce to the bastard son of Prefuse 73, and “Just in Lov” twists Justin Timberlake's voice beyond recognition. Jealov drowns Rihanna under “Re_N_A SOS” elevates Jay-Z’s brutal “99 Problems” to surprisingly uplifting territory on “JZ-9999” and resurrects Aaliyah on "All I Try" -- all too dizzying effect. Pensive and twisted in execution, Translations is what these fleeting jams sound like as they ricochet eternally in the collective subconscious.
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